


Knowing You

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Gratsu [54]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Established Relationship, Fights, M/M, Mind Control, Missions Gone Wrong, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-15 01:46:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19600579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: There was nothing.No spark of life, no shift in the empty expression, and he knew even before the flaming elbow connected with his side that it was going to take more than that to shake Natsu free of this. Grunting, he sprang back, throwing up a shield just in time as the Dragon-slayer lunged forward immediately, teeth bared in an eerie replica of Natsu’s usual grin.





	Knowing You

Gray reeled backwards as he took an elbow across the bridge of his nose, it wasn’t strong enough to break it, but it made his head ring for a second and he barely managed to fling a hand up, ice forming a mini shield, stopping the next blow cold. Shaking his head and wincing, sure that he was going to end up with one hell of bruise if he didn’t get Wendy to ease it once this was over and done with, he parried another blow, before clapping his hands together. The air around him froze, and there was a moment of realisation in his opponent’s eyes, before the ice lances slammed into him, flinging him away from Gray and across the floor of the warehouse. His flight ended as abruptly as it had begun as he crashed into a pile of crates, splintering the wood and sending it, and heaps of the fake magical products he and his cohorts had been hoping to sell crashing to the ground.

He spared a quick glance in the girls’ direction, but he needn’t have worried, Wendy and Lucy were back to back, easily holding their own against the mages that had thought they’d picked the easiest target. While the crashes from above told him that Erza was more than holding her own, not that he would have expected anything less. Which freed him to turn his attention to his main concern, and the reason why he had taken the blow to the face in the first place.

Natsu.

He knew better than anyone that it was dangerous to let yourself be distracted during a fight, and usually, he wouldn’t be. He’d long since got used to the sound of the others fighting around them, knowing without looking if they needed help, and that went even deeper with Natsu. You didn’t fight each other for years, and then alongside one another more months, without learning the rhythm of each other’s fighting styles. That was why his focus had wavered. Because there had been an off note in the sound of Natsu fighting on the far side of the warehouse. At first, it had been a brief silence, without Natsu shouting or the roar of flames, and fear had lashed at him then, worry that his partner might have gone down. However, he’d waited, breath catching in his throat as he froze his opponent in place, only to breathe again as Natsu began to curse. Cursing didn’t mean he was unharmed, but if he had the energy and breath to waste on that, then he wasn’t going to be teetering on the brink.

After that, he’d lost track of the Dragon-slayer for a few minutes, utterly focused on his own opponents and stopping the few mages who had obviously realised that the odds were against them and were trying to flee, and in some cases take the merchandise with them. It had only been when the wooden wall next to him had exploded in flames, flinging him back that he had first realised that something was off. It wasn’t the destruction or the fact that Natsu had been reckless enough to use something so big in the same area where they were, that was par for the course with the Dragon-slayer. No, it was the fact that the destruction was too contained because when he’d staggered back to his feet, he was startled to realise that the flames hadn’t touched the piles of crates. It was a small thing, and maybe just chance, but it had raised a warning flag in his mind.

It had kept him distracted, his attention torn between his own fight and where he could now see Natsu fighting, and mostly swinging towards the latter as what had been a note of worry, blossomed into full-blown dread because something was wrong. He knew Natsu. He knew how he fought, and the differences between a Natsu facing something or someone that he didn’t consider too much of a threat, and the escalation that came when he was pushed too far. This was neither of them. While there was a growing number of bodies on the ground around Gray and the girls, Natsu didn’t seem to be making any headway, his flames more defensive than offensive.

It wasn’t how Natsu fought.

It had been that realisation that had caused his focus to break just in time to take to the blow to the face. And now it became certainty as he watched Natsu duck beneath a clumsy attack that he could have caught bare-handed, the Dragon-slayer throwing up a wall of flames that forced the mages back but did very little damage

And Gray was moving before he’d realised what he was doing, icing the unfortunate woman who tried to block his path to the ground and storming past her, even as his thoughts swirled. Was Natsu hurt? Was something limiting his magic? He knew that both were options, but if it was the former he had seen the Dragon-slayer push through the worst of injuries to fight on as normal in the past, and if it were the latter, then Natsu would be raging and howling his frustration for the world to hear. But he was quiet, another anomaly, and one that had dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. Natsu was loud and obnoxious, and at some point, Gray had learned to draw comfort from that sound, no matter how badly things were going.

“NATSU!” He bellowed as he rushed forwards, ducking a blow from one of the mages who had turned to meet his approached, ice encasing his elbow as he slammed it into their diaphragm, dropping them with a single blow. His attention riveted on Natsu. The Dragon-slayer had flinched at his shout, and the dread twisted, become something colder and darker as Natsu’s eyes flickered towards him, empty of recognition. Devoid of anything, he amended, because there was no fear or anger, or any emotion that he would associate with his boyfriend as Natsu turned towards him, and there was something almost clumsy about how he moved.

That didn’t take the heat or power from his flames, and Gray cursed as the wall of flames flared to life once more, but now it was between him and Natsu. Now, the defensiveness was not the only warning sign, and Gray scowled.

“Who the hell are you?” He demanded, lifting his voice above the crackle and roar of the flames, fighting the urge to flinch back as the fire seemed to surge higher at his question. This wasn’t Natsu. What had begun with worry over the shift in his fighting style, had now become iron-clad certainty, as the Fire Mage just stared at him, before stepping back. “Not a chance…” Black crept up his arm, magic rippling through the air around him, as he stepped forward, directly into the fire.

If it had been Natsu holding the reins, not even his Devil-slayer magic would have protected him completely, because as much as it had irked him at times, they were too evenly matched. But in that split second before he’d stepped forward, he’d realised that even the flames were different. Weaker. A faint echo of Natsu’s usual strength and it almost felt like he was being tickled as he stepped through, forcing the Fire Mage to retreat further.

“Natsu…” This was worse than the rage that had fuelled Natsu when E.N.D. had been in control, because at least then he had still been able to see a spark of the Dragon-slayer he knew, even if he hadn’t been in any state to recognise it at the time. Now, as he met olive eyes, there was nothing. It was like staring at a blank slate. “Natsu!” He repeated louder this time, stepping forward, ice seeping across the ground in front of him, and circling around until it cut off the Dragon-slayer’s retreat, forming a solid wall behind him. “Damn it, Flamebrain! This isn’t you!” His eyes moved now, darting around, trying to work out who was responsible for this. Knowing that it would have taken a lot of power to crush Natsu’s willpower to this extent, and none of the ones he’d faced so far had shown even an iota of that power. “Where are you?” He demanded, lifting his voice, to make sure that they would hear him if they were anywhere within reach.

There was no audible response, but Natsu was moving, no longer retreating, blank-eyed and lax faced, but charging forward with flames wreathing his fists. This was more like Natsu, and as he ducked the first fist, Gray realised that it had been a game. Whoever was pulling the Dragon-slayer’s strings hadn’t wanted to hurt their own people, and had been playing defensive, until one of them came within reach, and they could turn Natsu into a weapon against them. He snarled a curse, torn between praying that Natsu had no idea what was happening to him, knowing that this wouldn’t sit well with him, and hoping that Natsu could see and hear him, as he ducked in close to avoid the next hit. “Wake up!” He ordered, not allowing himself to hesitate as he punched the Dragon-slayer, in the hopes that the familiar strike would help Natsu shake it off.

There was nothing.

No spark of life, no shift in the empty expression, and he knew even before the flaming elbow connected with his side that it was going to take more than that to shake Natsu free of this. Grunting, he sprang back, throwing up a shield just in time as the Dragon-slayer lunged forward immediately, teeth bared in an eerie replica of Natsu’s usual grin. Something hot and painful twisted in his chest at the sight, because that wasn’t Natsu, and gritting his teeth, trying to push away the awareness that he was going to have to attack Natsu again. Something he had promised himself would never happen again, after their conflict during the war, instead forcing himself to meet the empty gaze that now reflected the fire dancing around the Dragon-slayer’s fists.

“I’m not losing you to this,” he said, voice low, hoping that somewhere inside Natsu could hear the words and that he would know that Gray was there and fighting for him. “So, help me fight this, okay…” He pleaded, even as reared back, bring both hands together, ice flaring between them, and spreading across the Dragon-slayer, whatever was in control, too slow to react to the threat. Using the precious seconds, it would give him, to put some distance between them, readying himself as an ember grew in the middle of the ice, pulsing brighter with each moment, his hands trembling as he prepared himself and whispered another prayer beneath his voice.

_Come on Natsu, fight…_


End file.
